Post-Soviet Russian Rail Systems --- Update Sought

[2nd trick op]

It's been nearly thirty years since Elizabeth Pond published From the Yaroslavsky Station, the last narrative of ultra-long-distance rail journeys under the Soviet system of which I am aware.

Recalling that work, one of the salient points was that among Ms Pond's travelling companions, almost all of those who were there for a journey of more thn a few hundred miles were going by rail because they had no other choice, almost all travel being at the behest of the centralized state-run ecomnomy and the preferred airline seats being reserved for those with more influence.

With the lossening of entry and exit barriers in the air transportation field following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and judging from the modest, but easily-verified (via Google Earth) expansion of the Russian highway system, one would have to believe that the Russian passenger-rail system, while far from moriboud, has undergone some strong "rationalization" in recent years. I'm wondering if any of the members here could bring me up to date?

I'd also be interested in learning whether, and to what extent, the state-managed rail systems of Europe use government=manadated buusiess to generate additional revenues and stabilize theiir financial position.

[george matthews]

I would be reluctant to fly on any airline in the former Soviet Union. As far as I know trains are still popular. British tv has shown some programmes on travel in Russia which always show trains. The trans-Siberian has much improved from Soviet times. I think food supply is much better and comfort standards, too.

[David Benton]

i think i have a link to a fairly recent trans siberian trip on either this forum , or the rail travel reports forum .
I'm not sure things have got any better for the average citizen since the break up .

[george matthews]

i think i have a link to a fairly recent trans siberian trip on either this forum , or the rail travel reports forum .
I'm not sure things have got any better for the average citizen since the break up .

I am sure that air travel has got worse. Train travel still exists in Russia. However, in many of the former Soviet Republics, especially in Central Asia, the situation is much worse. Georgia and Armenia have lost most of their trains.

At about the time the Soviet Union broke up I was travelling on the train from Paris to Berlin which used to carry Soviet carriages to Moskva. I remember looking at the Soviet car and seeing it was in bad condition, dirty and in need of refurbishment. Previously these carriages which entered western Europe were kept in better condition. That was the time just after Gorbachov was overthrown and reinstated by Yeltsin. I think the situation is better now.

[lensovet]

I would be reluctant to fly on any airline in the former Soviet Union. As far as I know trains are still popular. British tv has shown some programmes on travel in Russia which always show trains. The trans-Siberian has much improved from Soviet times. I think food supply is much better and comfort standards, too.

lol.

most people living out in the sticks don't have much money, so airplanes and comfortable trains are equally out of their reach. train travel is still cheaper, but you won't be given a nice bed to sleep in for the price.

in general, in post-soviet Russia, places which have thriving markets/needs, such as the St. Petersburg-Moscow corridor, have no problem retaining services of varying grades, and have people taking both planes and trains to reach their destinations. service in more remote areas gets fewer and fewer subsidies each year, and as a result, suffers.

in terms of whether things have gotten better — again — in the major cities things have gotten a lot better, i don't understand how anyone could argue with this. but as you go further out, life has certainly gotten worse because there is no longer a central government willing to subsidize and prop up industries/towns which are no longer needed/competitive on the world stage. that's capitalism for you…

[kevin.brackney]

I would be interested in learning about freight traffic over the RZD; specifically freight being moved from Western Europe, through Russia and Uzbekistan, and terminating at Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. I know there are equipment/gauge differences that must complicate the transfer. Given that the Uzbek National Railway operates over the 75 km line from the Uzbek border to Mazar-i-Sharif it is obvious that Russian-made locomotives and rolling stock would appear there; but where is the transfer made with the West?

[george matthews]

I would be interested in learning about freight traffic over the RZD; specifically freight being moved from Western Europe, through Russia and Uzbekistan, and terminating at Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. I know there are equipment/gauge differences that must complicate the transfer. Given that the Uzbek National Railway operates over the 75 km line from the Uzbek border to Mazar-i-Sharif it is obvious that Russian-made locomotives and rolling stock would appear there; but where is the transfer made with the West?

Afghanistan is confronted by rail systems of three different gauges. From the former Soviet frontier there is Soviet gauge, reaching as far as Mazar.

From the Iranian frontier there is a European gauge line from Mashhad. I am not sure how far the Iranian line extends - at least as far as as Herat. In Pakistan there is the Indian gauge system, probably originally based on the Spanish gauge. None of these three gauges meet each other. There is no real plan to build an Afghan system so there is no need to choose an Afghan gauge. One can imagine a Swiss type of situation, but presumably only if they develop a political system capable of working together.